Isaac Makwala (born 24 September 1985) is a

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

sprinter who specializes in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

Career

He was the gold medallist at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

in 2018. He has also won continental titles at the distance, winning at the 2015 African Games and twice at the African Championships in Athletics (2012, 2014). He has represented his country Botswana at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, three times at the Commonwealth Games, and five times at the World Championships in Athletics (2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017). With the Botswana

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

team he has won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a silver medal at the

2017 IAAF World Relays The 2017 IAAF World Relays was the third edition of the biennial, global track and field relay competition between nations. It was held April 22–23, 2017, in Nassau, Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is a ...

and medals at the African Games and Championships. His personal best time of 43.72, set 5 July 2015 in

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds (; archaic ) is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura Mountains at an altitude of 992 metres, a few kilometres south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne, Biel/Bienne, and Fribourg, ...

was an African continental record and ranks him 13th on the all-time list. He is also a sub-20

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

runner. On July 14, 2017, Isaac Makwala became the first man in history to run a 200 m within 20 seconds and a 400 m within 44 seconds on the same day by running 43.92 in the 400, then 19.77 (no wind) in the 200, 2 hours and 20 minutes later at the Meeting de Atletismo Madrid. He qualified for 400m final at the 2017 World Championships, before being withdrawn from the race, due to illness. He then qualified for the 200 m final, placing overall sixth. He competed in the 400m at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, finishing 7th in the final.

Major competitions record

¹Did not start in the final

Personal bests

- 19.77 secs, Madrid, Spain, 14 July 2017 *

- 43.72 secs ( #2 African all time),

, Switzerland, 5 July 2015.

Track records

As of 16 September 2024, Makwala holds the following track records for 200 metres and 400 metres.

200 metres

400 metres

References

External links